Living Large-Support

[Kreeli]

good luck with your journey to better health, keely. i truly mean that.

for your information, i do get exercise; more than most of my thin counterparts. in the summer i swim every day (i am lucky enough to have a pool in my complex); and this winter i started doing pilates three times a week thanks to a DVD i bought; and i've been keeping up with my bellydancing practice twice a week, too. i also walk for 90 minutes each day (plus trots around the neighbourhood with my dog), and i chase my two kids around. i'm certainly not sedentary!

again, i wish you luck. since this is a support thread for large people who are trying very hard to stay away from the 'dieting' bandwagon (often after years of doing it and not seeing any real success with weight loss) i would like to respectfully ask you to keep the dieting talk/advice and discussion of the numbers on a scale out of this thread. michael started a new thread in this forum (do you want to be a big loser?) just today where you can share your weightloss with VB, and there is another thread (hamsters) where people of all shapes, sizes and fitness levels share what types of activity they've gotten each day. and of course the "what did you eat today" thread is always an interesting read.

good luck and i hope you find happiness. i truly do. :) :up: if you ever have a change of heart and want to talk more about learning to love your body no matter what size it is, and the things you do to take good care of it (leaving the weight loss discussion out of it) you know where to find us.

[MsRuthieB]

I walk where I can when I can instead of driving. I also do Tae-Bo 3x's a week and lift weights 2x's a week. I'm still a big gurl! :)

My motto: If you feel good on the inside don't worry so much about the outside.

[Keely]

Gee, I am so sorry I posted the wrong things here in the inappropriate thread. I thought I was just going along with conversation. I also don't see myself on any sort of bandwagon, but just sharing my motivation with other large people. Thanks for the thumbs up though.

[Keely]

I walk where I can when I can instead of driving. I also do Tae-Bo 3x's a week and lift weights 2x's a week. I'm still a big gurl! :)

My motto: If you feel good on the inside don't worry so much about the outside.

According to keeli, this goes in the Hamster thread. geees.

[Kreeli]

According to keeli, this goes in the Hamster thread. geees.

you asked the question, we answered it.

[MsRuthieB]

Nope..and it's Kreeli. Thanks!

Looks like we are posting at the same time Kreeli. I was responding to keeli's post.

[Kreeli]

Gee, I am so sorry I posted the wrong things here in the inappropriate thread. I thought I was just going along with conversation. I also don't see myself on any sort of bandwagon, but just sharing my motivation with other large people. Thanks for the thumbs up though.

your motivation is not in line with the purpose of this thread. your motivation is not to just achieve better health through vegetarianism and more daily activity, but to very purposefully diet to try and lose weight. this thread is about loving our bodies no matter what the numbers on the scale say. talking about your activity and healthy diet is great and welcome here. talking about weight loss (and questioning others on what you think they should be doing to achieve that goal) is not.

i am trying to be informative and polite here. i'm sorry you felt attacked or unwelcome. that wasn't my intention.

[Keely]

your motivation is not in line with the purpose of this thread. your motivation is not to just achieve better health through vegetarianism and more daily activity, but to very purposefully diet to try and lose weight. this thread is about loving our bodies no matter what the numbers on the scale say. talking about your activity and healthy diet is great and welcome here. talking about weight loss (and questioning others on what you think they should be doing to achieve that goal) is not.

i am trying to be informative and polite here. i'm sorry you felt attacked or unwelcome. that wasn't my intention.

Well, I after being invited to this thread from my introduction post I guess I was too hasty in everything I wanted to say. It did feel a little like I was getting kicked out, but i guess i am the newbie here. No offense taken.

[kristadb]

to be fair, i was also bulemic for most of that time. binging, purging, and wondering WHY on earth i couldn't ever get thin. i am pretty sure i messed pretty good with my metabolism during my teen years and early twenties. i also tried just about every fad diet that came along, dropping 15 - 30 pounds in a couple of months and then just putting it right back on again, plus more.


Interesting that you should say that. There aren't a lot of studies that have charted the permanent change in body size due to bulemia in teenage women. However, many of the stories are just like yours. It's interesting how it changes the bodies of those that do that. I wish we had more studies and more information concerning its long-term effects on our bodies.

[Gracie]

Hi Keely! Welcome to VeggieBoards! I'm glad to have you with us.


How many of you are exercising in conjunction with a healthy diet?

I exercise 6 days a week. Four of those days I use a no-impact aerobics tape by Kelly Bliss. I love her! Most instructors talk disrespectfully about their bodies, or our bodies (for example, "Get rid of those ugly love handles!) Kelly always talks about our bodies in a positive way. Also, she has workout tapes for people of all fitness levels, even those who, for whatever reason, can't stand up to exercise.

I have decided that I, as a fat woman, have a right to be fit and active, and to exercise. Moving my body and feeling good about it doesn't depend on my size, and it isn't something that only thin women can do.


But if you eat balanced, lots of fruit and veg and exercise, how can I go wrong?

I think it's the idea that being large is "wrong", and thin is "right" that people object to. Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be thin.

[Kreeli]

Well, I after being invited to this thread from my introduction post I guess I was too hasty in everything I wanted to say. It did feel a little like I was getting kicked out, but i guess i am the newbie here. No offense taken.

great! i wasn't kicking you out. just the dieting and weight loss talk. :) sit back, have a cup of tea, and check out some of the links and things we've posted here...i'm sure you'll find them fascinating. i know i do! :love:

[MsRuthieB]

Right. I know there are some awesomely (is that a word?) interesting/entertaining links in this thread keeli. Stick around. Maybe you'll stumble across something that may help you.

[punkmommy]

To answer Keely's question about exercise, I do about 30 min of aerobics about 5x/week (with a video) and I lift weights. I do yoga too, but haven't been motivated to do it lately :tired: Like Kreeli, I also have a little one to run around and keep up with! I defenitly eat better since I went vegan, mostly because I cook my own food :hungry: I have always been bigger, even when I weighed less (does that make any sense :dunce: :lol: ! ) Welcome to the site by the way, we're pretty laid back around here!

[Skylark]

Oh lovely ladies! I have tentatively decided to write my 3-4 page article for Advanced Journalism about this topic of healthy-does-not-equal-thin. Do any of you mind if I use material from this thread in my article? I know that Kreeli, Ruthie, Tiggzie, Krista, Punkmommy, and Rainbowmoon have made comments that I would like others to hear. I know this is a forum that is open for the eyes of the whole world, and probably only my professor will read it, but I do like to get permission when I can.

Hey--if it turns out well, I may post it here!

[kristadb]

But I'm averagish not quite thinnish ish - I only visit here when I have questions or I need to be cheered up :D I don't have anything useful to contribute to this discussion :(

[Kreeli]

it's cool with me, skylark. i'm glad this is something you're excited to write about. :)

[Skylark]

Krista, you're living proof that this thread is helpful, right? :D

Kreeli, thanks!

Hmmm... I wonder if my prof will expect me to use first and last names of the people whose words I include, not simply screennames. Since it's not a "hard news" story, I could announce in it that the names have been changed, I suppose.

[kristadb]

make up names for us and say the names were changed to protect the innocent and uptight :)

[kristadb]

Krista, you're living proof that this thread is helpful, right? :D



:think:

My head hurts now

:think:

I just come here to listen to Kreeli talk about her body, to be honest. She's done it in other threads and the passionate words she uses makes me want to.... :juggle:

:D

[MsRuthieB]

It's o.k. by me Skylark. Feel free to ask questions if you need clarification on something.

[Kreeli]

I just come here to listen to Kreeli talk about her body, to be honest. She's done it in other threads and the passionate words she uses makes me want to.... :juggle:



just to be clear, you wanting to :juggle: is a good thing, right? :confused: :smoke:

[eggplant]

Hi everyone. I thought I'd just share a random experience with you all... The other night I was in my apartment complex fitness room on the treadmill when two young women (early 20s?) came in, one fat and one thin. The larger woman was showing her smaller friend how to use all of the machines and do different stretches. At one point they started practicing ballet positions and I thought to myself, wow, that is one graceful, confident large woman! It just warmed my heart to see a fat woman who was clearly so at ease in her body and to see her thin friend looking up to her. It's the kind of thing that makes me hopeful that things might be changing. Just thought I'd share...

[kristadb]

eggplant, I think it would be better - for everyone - if we saw more of that. If you're fat and you can't change it, why sit in the corner for the rest of your life? If you're fat and you can change it, why sit in the corner for the rest of your life?

Basically, why sit in the corner for the rest of your life can be applied to most situations :D

[kristadb]

just to be clear, you wanting to :juggle: is a good thing, right? :confused: :smoke:

I was trying to find a neutral action icon and that was the best one I could come up with :up: :sheep: would not have been fitting when talking about "passion" :sheep:

[rainbowmoon]

Lol....funny that you bring up that situation, eggplant, after my day at the gym...
I am 5'3 and I weigh 165 pounds, and my friend- 5'4, 125- and I just began going to the gym together. I show her how to use some of the equipment, and how to do various exercises- I work at the healthy club and have quite a bit of experience with working out, as well as the benefit of advice from members.
My friend looks fairly muscular and I am pretty chubby...and I kid you not, people were giving us incredulous looks like "what is that fat girl doing showing that girl how to use equipment for?"---
Or maybe I'm just hypersensitive...:) Imagine that? I'm in better shape and I get more exercise than most of my thinner friends. Admittedly, my eating has been pretty out of whack recently.
WE-LL, those are MY rambling contributions.
Skylark- You can use anything I have to say, and you can use my name, too.